We’re never going to get this figured out. No, no. I can’t think like that. I have to be optimistic. We’ve had disagreements before. We’ll just talk. That’s all we need to do. We just need to talk, and we’ll work things out.
Whilst thus to ballast love I thought,
And so more steadily to have gone,
With wares which would sink admiration,
I saw I had love's pinnace overfraught
Every thy hair for love to work upon
Is much too much, some fitter must be sought;
For, nor in nothing, nor in things
Extreme and scatt'ring bright, can love inhere.
Then as an angel, face and wings
Of air, not pure as it, yet pure doth wear,
--Air and Angels,
John Donne
Twilight and Applejack sat at an outdoor table at the cafe, where they had shared many a lunch. Today was no exception. Applejack munched on a large arugula sandwich, while Twilight poked at a daisy salad. They ate slowly, and in silence, mulling over what they would say once they finally finished off their meals and had no excuse to be quiet.
They didn’t have the excuse of not knowing what to talk about, either. Each of them had decided to go talk to the other, and they had ended up meeting halfway, in the middle of town. They had gotten through the greetings easily enough, but then things had stalled a bit.
“So,” Applejack had said, “I wanted to talk to you about… you know.”
“Yes, so did I,” Twilight had answered.
Then they had ordered their meals, and hadn’t said another word. The food was nearly gone.
“I… I’ve been thinking about yesterday,” Twilight said, staring at her salad.
“Same here,” Applejack answered.
“I’m still not quite sure what we should do.”
“Me neither.”
“I guess it would help if I knew a bit more,” Twilight said. “I didn’t really let you explain how you felt yesterday. I’m sorry. If I had listened to what you were saying, maybe we’d have been able to figure things out.”
“I wasn’t exactly helpin’ either. I didn’t really want to listen to the reasons you were givin’.” She nibbled on the pickle that had accompanied her sandwich. “I just wanted to convince you.”
“I think that might’ve been the problem for both of us.” She scratched her head. “How about we stop trying to convince each other of anything and just try to explain. I’m not entirely sure I even understood what you were trying to say, and I think we need to get all that sorted out before we can figure out what to do.”
“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” Applejack nodded. “Why don’t you go first?”
“Me? Are you sure that you don’t want to go?”
Applejack shook her head. “I’m still not quite sure how to say what I wanna say, and if I actually understood what your reasons were, I might be able to explain myself better. Besides, I still gotta finish my sandwich.”
“Alright, then.” Twilight cleared her throat. “Well, the first reason why I think it would be better to live in the library is because it would just be much easier on everypony. Renovating your house would be a huge hassle. It would take weeks, and it would probably cost Sweet Apple Acres a lot of money that could go to other projects. Your family would have to work around everything, too.”
“It would be kinda rough on Granny,” Applejack admitted between bites. “I don’t think it would be that bad, though.”
“It’s not just that,” Twilight said. She bit her lip.
“Oh?” Applejack felt a chill run down her spine.
“I’m not quite sure exactly how to say it, but I guess I feel” —she didn’t want to say it, but she couldn’t think of any other way. The words stuck to her tongue, but she forced them out of her mouth anyway— “like you don’t trust me.”
Applejack nearly choked on her sandwich. “What?!” She sputtered. “What are you talkin’ about?”
“I just said, I didn’t know how to explain just what I’m feeling. What I mean is…that...” She paused and rubbed her forehead as she gathered her thoughts. “Okay, look. When I was getting ready to pop the question to you, I spent a lot of time thinking about what it would mean for both of us.”
Applejack nodded. “So did I.”
“Well, one of the things that I thought about was what it would be like. You know, when we finally moved in together. I knew it would mean that I’d have to make a lot of sacrifices. I’ve been living on my own for years now. Sure, Spike has been with me, but he’s always been able to do his own thing without being babysat. The whole time I was mentally preparing myself for it, because I knew things would have to change.
“I knew they would change because I knew that I wouldn’t have my life to myself anymore. It wouldn’t just be me, it would be us. There are a lot of things that I knew I’d need to give up, my routine, my organization, my schedule.” She smiled. “But I’m okay with that. Giving all that up might be tough, but I knew that you would be there. Anything I gave up would be replaced by something better.”
Applejack despondently stared at her plate for a moment. When she spoke, her voice was low. “And you don’t think I trust you enough to let go of anything to make room for you?”
“I… I guess you could say that,” Twilight said. “Remember back when we had that fight about the flowers and dinners and all that stuff?”
“Yeah,” Applejack answered in a heavy voice. “I guess I didn’t really learn much from that.”
“It does feel… familiar,” Twilight said. “I know you didn’t mean for it to be like that, and I know it’s not the whole story, but that’s how I feel. I know you must have a reason, Applejack. I know you aren’t selfish, and you’re not against moving in with me just because it’s inconvenient for you. You asked me to marry you, but you still want to keep everything the same, and I don’t understand it. I want to understand what you’re feeling.”
Twilight leaned back and took a deep breath. Hopefully she hadn’t sounded too harsh. She couldn’t bring herself to be angry. It was more confusion than anything else. But if anypony could explain herself simply, it would be Applejack.
“So I suppose it’s my turn to explain myself?” Applejack asked. She limply raised one of her hooves to scratch her head. She wanted to pull her hat over her face. “I’m sorry. I know it looks like I’m just tryin’ to do things the way that’s easiest for me. And honestly, I guess I kinda am.”
She took a sip of her water and forced herself to look Twilight in the eyes. “It’s not that I don’t want things to change. I know that no matter where we end up livin’, nothing’s gonna be the same, and that’s okay with me. It’s just… movin’ off the farm… I don’t know how I feel about it. Yeah, so the library is just a few minutes away, but that’s not the problem.”
Twilight reached across the table and put her hoof on Applejack’s. “So what is the problem?”
Applejack took a deep breath, and hoped that what she was about to say made sense. “There’s only one time in my whole life where I ever left Sweet Apple Acres. And when I say left I mean that I didn’t know whether I’d ever be comin’ back. It was when I visited my Aunt and Uncle Orange in Manehattan.
“I was real excited about gettin’ to finally leave the farm and actually see what else was out there, you know? Anything could happen! I might end up bein’ discovered by a talent agency, or gettin’ a job with Uncle Orange, or gettin’ famous. And it was great, at least for the first couple days.
“But then the excitement started to fade, and it wasn’t fun to be there anymore. It was all the fancy stuff; at first I thought it was because I just wasn’t used to it, but the longer I was there the more I realized that I just didn’t like it, and no amount of hangin’ around was gonna change that. You know how the rest of it happened.”
Twilight nodded. “You saw the Rainboom in the distance, pointing back towards Ponyville.”
“Yeah, but it was so much more than that. It was like somepony flipped a switch in my head. It wasn’t just that I wanted to go home, it was that I realized that Sweet Apple Acres was my home. In that instant, I couldn’t so much as think of anywhere else as my home. All I could think about was gettin’ back to the farm. I felt like an idiot for thinkin’ that I might not come back.
“I came down the road, saw my family standin’ there waitin’ for me, and next thing I knew, my cutie mark was there. It was like findin’ the one piece of a puzzle that all the other pieces fit into. I knew that there was nothing else I wanted to spend my life doin’ than workin’ on Sweet Apple Acres.
“I know everypony thinks my cutie mark is just about apples, but it’s more than that. I got my mark when I found the place where I belonged. Ever since then, Sweet Apple Acres isn’t just where I live, it’s a part of who I am. It’s not that I don’t trust you, it’s that I’m not sure if I trust myself. I… it’s like if I move someplace else I’m afraid I won’t be me anymore.”
She leaned back and chewed on her lip as she waited for Twilight to answer. Twilight simply looked Applejack in the eyes as she mulled the words over. Every second of silence weighed heavier on Applejack’s head.
“I know it sounds kinda silly,” Applejack said, unable to bear the silence any longer. “But I don’t know any other way to say it.”
“No,” Twilight said. Applejack’s heart pounded for a moment. Then Twilight smiled, and Applejack felt the heaviness dissolve. “I don’t think that’s silly at all. Sometimes I just forget that not everypony grew up the same way I did. For me, the place I lived was never that big of a deal.”
“So, you understand?”
“Well, I can’t honestly say that I have any idea what this feels like for you,” Twilight answered, “but I understand why you feel that way. At least, I think I do. I never really realized how much the farm itself meant to you.”
“So,” Applejack said, “now what? Even though we talked through everything, what do we do? I know it would just be selfish for me to think that after listenin’ to me you’d suddenly be on board with movin’ in. And I know that it would probably be weird for you to live with my whole family.”
“You know what?” Twilight sighed. “I have no idea where we should go from here. I thought we’d have things figured out once we talked things through, but I’ve got nothing.”
It was Applejack’s turn to put her hoof on Twilight’s. “At the very least, we made a step in right direction. At least now while we’re mullin’ it over we’ll be able to think of how it’ll affect both of us.”
Twilight smiled. “You’re right. As much as I’d love to have things decided and out of the way, this is a bit too big of a thing to decide on the spur of the moment. Are you okay with giving me some time to think through what you said?”
“Fine by me. I gotta think over stuff, too. Wherever we end up, I want you to really feel like we’re at home there.”
“So I guess now we go back to arguing over where we want to have our honeymoon? I still think that Manehattan would be fun.”
For the first time that day, Applejack felt free to laugh. “‘Course it would be if you’re there. Maybe we should just chuck a dart at a map. Even if we end up in a swamp someplace, I bet we’d still enjoy ourselves.”
Twilight returned the laugh. “I’m willing to compromise, but I want a bed.”
“They got beds in the swamp! I gotta sleep somewhere when I deliver the pies every year.” She winked. “We could bring the pies along and save a trip!”
“I thought we agreed that there wouldn’t be any business!” Twilight playfully kicked at Applejack under the table. “Though, that does give me an idea…”
Applejack raised an eyebrow. “Havin’ some pie for dessert?”
Twilight grinned. “Finally, we agree on something!”
“So, this is really what we’re going to do? You sure that you’re okay with this, Applejack?”
Applejack nodded. “Yeah. We’ve talked about it long enough, and I think it’s time to make it official. No point in puttin’ it off any longer.”
“Okay then,” Twilight said. “You’ve got the deposit money, right?”
“Of course.” Applejack took a deep breath, and dropped a bag of bits on the desk. “We’ll take it!”
“Congratulations!” The Mayor brought a large rubber stamp down on the paper with a thump. “The Town Hall is now officially reserved for your wedding!”
Twilight and Applejack smiled nervously at each other. For the past few weeks, the wedding preparations had been looming larger and larger. This was the push that would cause the whole thing to snowball.
“It’s so weird,” Twilight said as they trotted lightly out of the Mayor’s office. “It just feels so much more official now that we went and reserved the place!”
Applejack chuckled. “‘Cause orderin’ the dresses, pickin’ the music, and gettin’ the invitations ready didn’t get through to you.”
“Ugh, why did you have to mention the invitations?” Twilight groaned. “It’s going to take us all day tomorrow to address all of those!”
Applejack snorted. “It’s not my fault I got so many relatives. All those stamps are gonna cost a ton, though. What’s next on that giant list of yours?”
“Well…” On cue, she pulled the scroll out of seemingly nowhere. “Let’s see, the big thing is getting the catering figured out. I know Bon Bon is willing to give us a discount for the desserts, and Pinkie told me that the Cakes will give us a great deal on the… well, you know.”
“And my family is gonna handle the appetizers,” Applejack said with a nod. “That just leaves us with… the whole main part of the meal.” She shook her head. “I’ll ask around and see if anypony can recommend someplace to handle that stuff.”
“Same here,” Twilight said as she looked over the scroll. “Ugh, I still got something that I have to take care of.”
“Mare of Honor?” Applejack asked with a smirk.
Twilight nodded sullenly. “I still haven’t picked anypony. Not all of us are lucky enough to have a brother who lives so close by.”
“Aw, come on, I bet Shinin’ Armor would love to do it! You were his Best Mare, after all. Or Cadance.”
“I thought about it, but they barely found the time to come to the wedding at all. I don’t want them to have to go through all the fittings and rehearsals.”
“Listen, I don’t know Shinin’ Armor and Cadance that well, but I’m pretty sure they’d do it. They might be a bit tired, but that’s not gonna stop ‘em.”
“I’d love for one of them to do that, but I just think it would be too hectic. They’re not even arriving in Ponyville until the middle of the night before the wedding, and they’re leaving early the next morning. Even if they’re okay, you know perfectly well that I’d be a nervous wreck.”
Applejack thought for a moment. “Good point. Rarity wouldn’t be happy about you curlin’ your hair up like that, either.”
“Ugh, it’s like the Grand Galloping Gala tickets all over again! Only this time I’m not going to be able to get extra tickets! I can’t make everypony my Mare of Honor!”
Applejack rolled her eyes. “It’s not that bad. They aren’t all trippin’ over themselves to get on your good side, are they?”
“Well, no.”
“And if you wanna be technical, you could make them all your Mare of Honor.”
“But if I do that it wouldn’t really be any different than not having one at all!”
“So?” Applejack poked Twilight in the shoulder. “What’s the big deal if you don’t have a Mare of Honor? We’re gonna have all our friends there. What does it matter if we don’t pick one to be extra special?”
“I know that, but it just feels like something would be missing.”
Applejack shrugged. “Well, it’s your call. If you really want somepony to be your Mare of Honor, you gotta make that choice yourself.”
“I know, I know,” Twilight said with a sigh. “It’s just been bugging me for a month now. And with the wedding just a few weeks away, I’m really starting to feel the pressure!”
“Well, accordin’ to Rarity, it’s only gonna get more hectic from here, so whatever you’re gonna do, you should probably do it as quick as you can.”
“Easier said than done,” Twilight grumbled. “Oh well, at least we got something done today.”
“That we did,” Applejack said, nodding. “I better head back to the farm. Big Macintosh wanted to talk about the wedding reception. You wanna come along?”
Twilight shook her head. “I think I’ll pass. I need to figure out this whole ‘Mare of Honor’ thing, if only so I can get it off of my mind.”
“Alright, I’ll see you later then.” Applejack gave Twilight a peck on the cheek. “Good luck gettin’ it figured out.”
“Thanks. Bye!” Twilight waved goodbye as she trotted back toward the library. She smiled, but her head was in a whirl, the question of her Mare of Honor stuck in her mind like a splinter.
“Yeah, I’m with Applejack on this one,” Spike said as he meticulously swept the floor around Twilight’s desk. “What’s the big deal if you just don’t have a Mare of Honor? It’s not like they really do anything special. Well, they organize your bachelorette party, I guess, but other than that all they really do is stand there.”
“It just feels like it would be… incomplete. And more importantly, it would make the wedding parties asymmetrical!” Twilight pounded her hoof on her desk. “The only way to fix it is to either find somepony, or kick Big Macintosh out of the wedding, and there’s no way I’m doing that!”
“Oh, right. Symmetry.” Spike waited until Twilight was looking away before rolling his eyes so hard he made himself dizzy. “Why don’t you just draw names out of a hat or something?”
“That would trivialize the whole role! I want to pick somepony who’s played a special role in my life, somepony who helped Applejack and I get to where we are!” She groaned and slumped over the desk, smearing the still-wet ink on her notes. “But they’ve all done that! How am I supposed to pick one?”
“I have no idea!” Spike threw his claws in the air. “I don’t know what else to tell you. Either you’ve gotta pick somepony, or not. There isn’t a whole lot else you can do.”
She sighed. “I know, I know. It feels like I’m stuck.” She lifted her head off of her desk. The last few lines she had written in her notes were now scrawled across her face.
Spike giggled. “Uh, Twilight…”
“I have ink on my face, don’t I?”
“Just a little.”
“You know what? I think I’m done with this for the day.” She closed her book. “I’m going to go take a nice bubble bath and clear my head. I’ve already done enough today. I’ll worry about this tomorrow. Don’t let anypony bother me, okay? I just need to relax."
Spike nodded. “I kinda figured. Go enjoy your bath.”
“Thanks, Spike.” She disappeared into the bathroom and the door locked with a click.
Spike chuckled to himself and resumed his sweeping. “About time she unwound a little.”
Bon Bon rolled her eyes as she watched Twilight parcel out hooffulls of peanut brittle into their bags. “So what you’re saying is that everypony has been giving you advice for the past week, yet you haven’t taken any of it?”
“I don’t know if I should listen to them or not! Everypony says that I should just have all my friends do it, or pick somepony at random or something, or just not have one at all, but none of those feel right!” Twilight levitated a bag of peanut brittle over the scale and let it drop. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Just do whatever you want!” Lyra plucked the bag off of the scale and tied it closed with a lopsided bow. “It’s your wedding. So what if it’s a bit un-typical? If you like it it doesn’t matter what anypony else thinks! Unless it’s Applejack, ‘cause it’s her wedding too.”
“I know that,” Twilight mumbled as she fixed the bow Lyra had tied. “But I just keep thinking about it. I mean, I’m only going to get married once, hopefully. I want to do it right.”
Lyra snorted. “That’s what you’re worried about? Can I let you in on a little secret?”
“Secret?” Twilight gave a Lyra a sideways glance. “Sure, I guess.”
“The secret is” —Lyra paused for an infuriatingly long moment— “the wedding itself really isn’t that big of a deal.”
“What?” Twilight blinked as she measured out another bag of candy. “What does that even mean? Of course the wedding is important!”
“Well, it is and it isn’t,” Lyra continued as she tied another bag. This one didn’t even get a bow; it got a knot. “Everypony makes such a big deal about the wedding. Making sure everything is perfect, that you have the right food, the right music, the right venue, as if all that stuff somehow matters in the long run.
“Sure, you want it to be nice, but that’s not what a wedding is about. Weddings are about the ponies who are getting married. It’s about taking their relationship, and… well, I guess you could say that you’re formalizing it, but that makes the whole thing sound really boring. But the whole thing is a way of showing each other and all your guests how much you mean to each other. It’s coming out and saying ‘I love this pony and I’m gonna spend the rest of my life with her!’ As long as you accomplish that, all of the other stuff is just frills.”
Twilight froze halfway through untangling the knot that Lyra had left on the bag. Then she grinned. “You’d think by now I’d have gotten it through my head that doing things ‘right’ is overrated. I’ve given myself so much trouble because I couldn’t remember that.”
Lyra shrugged as she clumsily tied another bow. “Everypony needs to be reminded about some things.”
“Like how to tie a bow, for example.” Bon Bon gave Lyra a shove. “Twilight, would you switch with Lyra, please? At this rate you’re going to just be retying every package.”
Lyra wiggled her snout at Bon Bon. “Still nicer than when you tie them.”
“You try tying a bow with these.” Bon Bon held up her hooves. Then she turned back to Twilight. “As much as I hate to admit it, Lyra is right. You do want to have fond memories of your wedding ceremony, but in the end that’s really all it is. Our wedding was quite nice, but it’s not the reason that we’re still together. The fact that we picked our wedding parties at pretty much the last minute didn’t really matter in the end.”
Twilight thought for a moment. “Out of curiousity, who ended up being your Mare of Honor?”
“My little sister,” Bon Bon said. “Lyra’s was her roommate from university. Octo-something.”
“Octavia, Bon Bon. Seriously, you’ve met her a bunch of times.” Lyra shook her head. “Remember when we went to go see her play at the gala?”
Bon Bon nodded. “Yes, yes, of course.”
“Ooh! I should see if she can play at the wedding! I bet I could get you a discount!” She winked at Twilight. “Should I go for it?”
“I guess you could, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble. All we really need is somepony to accompany Fluttershy’s birds during the processional.”
“Alright! I’ll” —she stood, ready to sprint off, but she was fixed by a glare from Bon Bon— “finish with this peanut brittle and then send her a letter.”
“That’s a good plan,” Bon Bon said, turning her attention back to the chocolate covered strawberries she was arranging. “We wouldn’t want to get too caught up, after all.”
Twilight nodded thoughtfully as she watched Lyra begin to fill a bag of peanut brittle. “No. No, we wouldn’t.”
Applejack sniffed the pot of stew on the stove. She snorted, and added some pepper. The scent of the vegetables demanded her attention so strongly that she barely heard the knock on the door.
“Apple Bloom, can you get that? I’m kinda busy.” She heard Apple Bloom trot past behind her as she stirred her dinner. Of course somepony would show up just as they were about to sit down to eat.
“Hey, Applejack! Twilight’s here!”
“Huh?” Applejack turned her head so quickly she almost sprained her neck. Sure enough, Twilight stood in the doorway. “Twilight? What’re you doin’ here? I thought you weren’t comin’ by til after dinner.”
“Don’t worry, this won’t take long,” she said with a smile. "I just wanted to tell you that I finally figured out what to do about the whole Mare of Honor thing.”
“Really? What are you gonna do?”
“Well, that’s a surprise.” Twilight winked. “That’s actually what I’m here for. I wanted to tell everypony at once. Do you think you could stop by the shop tomorrow morning?”
“Sure. What about everypony else?”
“Spike is going around and telling them what’s going on. I just thought I should tell you myself. I could’ve waited until later, but I didn’t want somepony else to beat me to it. And now that I delivered the message, I should get back home. I’ll see you later, okay?”
“Yup. See you.”
Twilight winked again before heading out the door. Applejack shook her head. “Wonder what she finally ended up doin’? This oughta be fun.”
Twilight surveyed the group that had gathered in the chocolate shop. She could hardly believe that she’d managed to get all of her friends in the same place at the same time. Or that Bon Bon had let her use the shop as the meeting place. Behind the counter, Bon Bon and Lyra watched, with varying levels of interest.
“I suppose you’re all wondering why I asked you to be here today,” she began. “I-”
“Not really,” Rainbow Dash interrupted.
Pinkie nodded in assent. “Yeah, Spike told us why you wanted us all to be here.”
“Hush!” Rarity poked Pinkie in the flank. “Don’t interfere with her introduction.” She turned back to Twilight. “Go on, dear.”
“As all of you know, I’ve spent the last few days thinking about who I wanted to be my Mare of Honor. Well, I’ve come to a decision, and I thought it would be best to tell all of you at the same time. I wanted to explain my decision, since I know it might be a bit of a surprise for everypony. I didn’t even think of it until yesterday, myself.” She cleared her throat before continuing.
“I just didn’t know what to do. All of you are my friends, and I just couldn’t bring myself to choose any one of you over the others. You all mean a lot to me, and I just want to make sure you know that, because, well… I can’t pick one of you, so I’m not picking any of you as my Mare of Honor.”
A murmur went through her friends. She knew they weren’t surprised, per se, but her answer still affected them.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m very happy that all of you are part of our wedding, but I just can’t bring myself to say that any one of you is any more important than anypony else. All of you are my friends.”
“It’s okay, I understand,” Fluttershy said. “I’m sure everypony else does, too.”
The rest of the group nodded in agreement.
“Whew.” Twilight sighed in relief. “I’m glad you all see that. I needed the pony that I picked to be somepony that helped me in a different way.”
“Wait a sec!” Applejack stared at Twilight. “You mean that you actually did end up pickin’ somepony?”
“Yes!” Twilight nodded emphatically. “I decided that my Mare of Honor ought to be somepony who really helped me keep my head on straight and encourage me, even when things got difficult.” She slowly turned around. “Lyra, I know this is kinda short notice, but I would be happy to have you as my Mare of Honor.”
She heard her friends gasp, but she ignored it.
“Me? Really?” Lyra asked, confused. “Are you sure?”
“Listen, nearly the whole time I’ve been going out with Applejack, you’ve helped give me the perspective I needed to keep me from tripping over my own hooves. Without your advice, I’d probably have driven myself crazy. And probably driven Applejack crazy, too. You’ve really helped me, and I want to recognize you for that.”
Lyra looked pensive for a moment, then grinned widely. “That would be awesome!”
“Great!” Twilight beamed. “I’m so glad everything worked out.”
“See, Twilight, I told you it’d all work out!” Applejack ruffled Twilight’s mane lightly.
“Indeed,” Rarity said, striding past Twilight and Applejack. “Hmmm…” She stopped in front of Lyra, studying her mane. “Yes, I think this will turn out quite well. When can you drop by my boutique? The Mare of Honor must have a fitting ensemble!”
“Have fun with that!” Rainbow Dash snorted. “Just be careful, once she gets you trying on dresses, you’re not getting out for a while. If she needs a model for some of her other dresses you might be there all night!”
“But on the bright side, if she does keep you there all night, at least she feeds you!” Pinkie added. “Hope you like crumpets!”
“She does make very good crumpets,” Fluttershy said. “It really is worth trying on a couple dozen dresses.”
“Okay, I’ll—” Lyra paused. “Wait a minute, a couple dozen?”
“We must make sure your dress is perfect after all,” Rarity said with a wink. “When can you drop by the shop?”
“After she’s done with work,” Bon Bon said.
“Oh, yes, of course.” Rarity nodded. “I suppose we should all be going, now that Twilight has made her announcement. Unless she has something else to announce.”
Twilight shook her head. “No, that was everything. I’ll catch up with all of you later. Thanks for understanding.” She waved at her friends as they headed back to their own jobs. Except for Pinkie, who had to be shooed away from the sample dish.
“Sorry for the trouble,” Twilight said as she began to re-organize the chairs her friends had moved around.
“No, no, it’s fine,” Bon Bon said. “I could hardly begrudge you a few minutes for this. Though I must say, I was not expecting you to make Lyra your Mare of Honor.”
“If I could have, I would’ve picked both of you. I just figured you… uh… wouldn’t appreciate it as much as Lyra would.”
Bon Bon nodded. “I’ll be busy enough without having to worry about rehearsals and dress fittings and all of that.”
“Well, I just want to thank you anyway. You’ve helped me a whole lot, as well.”
“It’s the least I could do,” Bon Bon said. “I know exactly how stressful such things can be, and I see no reason not to help you.”
Twilight nodded. “And I’m really glad you did.”
“You are welcome.” She turned to Lyra. “Now then, how about we get back to work?”
“Did you hear that, Bon Bon? I get to be in a wedding!” Lyra trotted excitedly in place. “Ooh! This means I get to plan Twilight’s bachelorette party too, doesn’t it?”
“Yes, yes,” Bon Bon rolled her eyes. “But that does not mean you get to slack off on your job. I am not going to do double duty just so that you can go off and party and try on dresses.”
“Yeah, I know.” Lyra sighed. “It’s so exciting, though!”
“You have a whole month to be excited, Lyra. We do not have a whole month to finish packing our inventory for the week. It isn’t like you’re the one getting married.” She turned to Twilight. “And even if you are getting married, you still must focus. One cannot neglect their duties just because a special occasion is coming up. At the moment, I would like you to sweep the floor.”
Twilight nodded. “Of course. I don’t want to get too preoccupied with the preparations.”
Bon Bon smirked. “No. No you don’t.”
“You sure you’re alright, with Lyra being my Mare of Honor?” Twilight asked. “I really should’ve asked you first.”
“Twilight, I’m fine with it, really.” Applejack chuckled as she poured a mug of cider for her fiancée. “I’m just happy you were able to take care of it. Though I admit I probably wouldn’t have ever thought of that particular solution.”
“I barely thought of it myself.” Twilight took a sip of cider. “It’s so nice to not have to worry about that anymore. I finally feel like we’ve made a real dent in all the preparations.”
“Or at the very least, now it’s somepony else’s problem,” Applejack said. “I’d hate to be Rarity right now. She’s probably got dresses comin’ out of her ears right about now. Although…”
“Although what?” Twilight drained her mug and began to pour herself another.
“I just thought of something else we gotta take care of.”
Twilight’s face went pale. “What did we forget? Did we forget to include an RSVP with the invitations? Did we invite too many ponies? What happened?!”
“No, no, it’s nothing like that! Calm down.” Applejack wrinkled her nose. “I’ve just been thinkin’ about that little kerfuffle we had about livin’ arrangements.”
“Oh, right,” Twilight said. “That. I knew that would come up again eventually. I’ve been thinking about it a lot, and if living here on Sweet Apple Acres means that much to you, I could—”
“Just stop right there!” Applejack sounded like she was telling a cart to stop before it ran over a foal. “Don’t say that.”
“W-what?” Twilight scratched her head in confusion. “You mean you don’t want to stay here?”
“I do, and that’s the whole problem. I’ve been thinkin’ about this a lot, too. And I took a page outta your book and did some research.” She opened a drawer under the kitchen counter and took out a folder. “Take a look.”
Twilight took the folder and began to leaf through it. “Local real estate listings? You’re thinking of buying a house?!”
“Well, I’m not plannin’ on takin’ out a loan or anything right this second. I’ve just been goin’ over everything you said about movin’ in together and all that, and I decided that movin’ off of Sweet Apple Acres is something I need to do.”
“You need to do?”
Applejack nodded. “Yes. It’s like you said, I gotta be willin’ to give stuff up. I asked you to marry me, and when I did that, it was a promise that we were gonna share our lives with each other. And if I decide that I’m gonna keep livin’ here, it feels like I’m breakin’ that promise. I might be givin’ that up, but I know that if we go through all this together, I’ll be just fine.”
“Are… are you sure?”
“Quit askin’ me that! It was hard enough makin’ this decision for myself. If you keep askin’ me about it, I might end up changin’ my mind.” She sighed. “I figured we could start lookin’ for someplace, and until we find somewhere, it ain’t gonna kill me to live in the library. Not like I don’t spend a ton of time in there anyway.”
Twilight smiled so widely her cheeks ached. “That’s perfectly alright with me. We’ll have to start reorganizing! And cleaning!”
“Don’t worry about it too much,” Applejack said with a laugh. “We can talk about redecoratin’ tomorrow. For now, let’s just be happy that we know where we’re redecoratin’.”
“Good point,” Twilight said. “At least I know Spike will be happy.” She chuckled. “I promised him that if you moved in, he’d get his own room.”
Applejack smiled. “At least I know he won’t be mad about me movin’ in.”
“You mean I’ll finally get my own room? Finally!” Spike drummed his claws together in excitement. “This is great. I can finally hang up all those posters you won’t let me put anywhere!”
“I’d let you hang them up if they weren’t so… colorful,” Twilight said. “I’m pretty sure that I wouldn’t even be able to sleep with those things on the wall.”
“Wouldn’t bother me!” Spike hopped backward and landed square in his bed. “I can sleep through anything!”
“Not everyone is so lucky,” Twilight said. “I’m sure you know a bunch of stuff is going to change when Applejack moves in, but right now I’m too tired to think of anything specific.”
“Eh, I’ll be fine with whatever,” Spike shrugged. “Applejack and I get along fine. Don’t worry about it.”
“It’s not going to be that easy, you know.”
“Eh, maybe, maybe not. There’s nothing I can do about it now, so what’s the point in worrying about it.” He yawned. “Just relax. You’ve earned it.”
“You know what?” Twilight flopped limply onto her bed. “I think you’re right. I’ve done everything I can do. There’s more to do, but nothing I can do right now.”
“Well, there is one thing you can do.”
“What’s that?”
Spike chuckled. “Look forward to it.”
Twilight smiled. “I can do that.”
I wonder if spike will want to soundproof his room eventually if Twi and AJ become uhh to loud at night
I'm pretty surprised that there is only one more chapter after this. I feel like there is still a lot left to happen in this story with the wedding and all. I guess the final chapter is just the wedding and maybe a hint of what comes after. Either way I look forward to it.
Either there's an extra space between those lines, or importing from gdocs ate a paragraph!
I have to say, I'm surprised that Spike wasn't the obvious choice to stand next to Twilight in the ceremony... Especially if Mac is going to be Applejack's choice. However, Lyra is a unique choice that fits this particular story well, and I didn't even see it coming.
Likewise, Since the Apples own so much land, I would have thought the practical compromise would have been building a new home for just the two of them somewhere else on the Acres. But with AJ feeling it would be good for her to move off the land, buying a place makes sense.
The fun of this story is watching them navigate these issues and come to their own solutions. Looking forward to the big finish!
4996120 This is one of those cases where I probably could extend the story further, but doing so would be too much for me. There's definitely plenty of content to extend the story to deal with their married life and such, but I decided a while back I wouldn't go into that. I have a couple reasons, but the main one is that after two years and nearly 300,000 words spent on this story, that I want to end it before I get sick of writing it. I enjoy it, but I think I'm starting to hit the limit of how much time I can spend on it before it starts not being fun any more. There are other reasons, but I'm not going to list everything now. Maybe after I'm done I can have a blog post or something answering people's questions about why I wrote the story the way I did.
4996184 Yeah, there's a paragraph missing, which is now back. I thought I had caught all of those, but I guess not.
4996338 I struggled for a while with what would be the best solution to it. And since there isn't really a "best" way of solving the problem, I figured I'd leave it like this. There's a lot of emotional baggage attached to one's home, and I really wanted to factor that in rather than just leaving the solution up to which thing is more purely practical.
4996541
I don't think it needs to be stretched out. I think that they are enjoying your story(as am I) that they want more. It's a great place to come to a conclusion.
Would that also means Apple Bloom will have Twilight for an aunt and Spike as a cousin?
Nice chapter, woohoo Lyra!, and I think the wedding would be a fine endcap to this story. Yes, it could continue, but this is also a great focused event to end it on. A grand wedding finale, a culmination to the love story, with a Happily Ever After.
...although, further down the road...
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/5/10/622786__safe_animated_screencap_hub+logo_book_hubble_hub_books_golden+oaks+library_spoiler-colon-s04e25.gif
...well, mostly happy, anyway.
4996541 I don't blame you at all mate. A story in this style but focused on the married half of life could easily be just as long as this entire story again, and it would probably end up feeling like a different or separate story anyway. (For example, it'd necessitate much longer time jumps in all likelihood, and would need some new sort of conflict to resolve.) I really enjoyed this story, it's probably my favourite long-form romance on this site. That said, if it's coming to its natural conclusion, then that's exactly what it should do. No need to stretch it past its natural end point; that often does more harm than good anyway.
Besides, I think one of the central themes of the story is really resolved at this point: AJ and Twi know how to deal with their problems and differences at this point. They still have them, but they also don't freak out about them, they just talk to each other, and they're even still okay when they can't think up an answer. That's the point that the story has been working towards this entire time, and now that it's achieved, the story has reached the end of its main conflict and it's time to wrap up.
Cheers for writing an awesome story mate, looking forward to the conclusion.
I honestly thought Twi would've picked Celestia as her Best Mare, but her explabation of Lyra makes sense! :)
4996338
He's probably the ringbearer, unless someone else has that job.
What? finished?! D: nooo
Well, talking alone isn't some panacea. But it is the best idea. You also have to be willing to listen and understand each other as well.
SYMBOLISM!
Wait, the middle of town is halfway between the Library and SAA? So, the Library is on the far side of town from it? that.. adds more issues to AJ moving all the way out there...
Heh, really nice, just, not sure why but, little things like this whole scene so far... LOVE THEM!
Twi's first list. All solid, practical, reasons.
Well, not 'give up' just, alter. You would still have those things just, slightly changed to accommodate AJ.
Wow.. I mean I know this would be good, and Twi and AJ would, have really good reasons and just well handled but.. DAMN even with the expectations I had, this was amazing! And yeah, that.. is a lot of it. AJ, doesn't really like change. It's not a conscious thing she just, is unsettled by things changing like that, in such major ways.
Just... perfect.
And, it was realizing this that got her her Cutie Mark. That made her know who she was, what she wanted to do. Yeah leaving that... something so big a deal.... yeah that is going to be really hard.
..................... Story.... I'd say get out of my head but... it's just cuase you are so damn good and just... just..
What!? No, instant everything better after talking solution? What kind of story is this! oh wait.. a GOOD one! And, they both understand each other, aren't upset, and just want to find a way to reach a compromise that doesn't hurt either of them to much. Just.. DAMN!
And, right back to this kind of thing and, love it. They care, they want to work it out and, they are not letting it blow up in their face over something they can find a way to work out.
YAY!
Skip the working things out and discussing solutions?
....
Ohhh, nice fake out. Though still think Town hall seems to... ordinary.
So they ARE coming. Good. But, yeah come on, let Shiny have some fun up there! Or Cadance!
Went from a few months to a few weeks, and still no idea on where they will live?
And like Pinkie would let any pony but her organize ANY party in town, no matter what.
Well discounting picking one of the other four to be above the others....It'll be Lyra won't it? The rest of the character all have some roll to play in the wedding. Wait, unless she's doing the music...
Now, the wedding night on the other hoof.....
Wise Lyra is wise.
biggest understatement of the century.
YES! And, Pinkie will get Vinyl to play at the part afterwards. And then those two will... wait, sorry wrong shipping pair for this fic.
Yup.. Lyra's gong to be Mare of Honor isn't she?
One question left, who is going to officiate? because, yeah not a Princess here but still, Tia NOT doing it for Twilight would be weird.
Lyra. now, is she going to tell Lyra first, or spring it on her as well as everypony else?
CALLED IT!
She's never gone to a fitting from Rarity before? Ohhh.. Ohhhhhh... Well, she had no idea what she just got herself into.
Bon-Bon, you are awesome but.. not QUITE awesome enough to out awesome Twi's dad
Yeah, kind of important.
Ehhhh this feels... kind of out of nowhere. Just "Hey remember the huge issue we had that we apparently haven't mentioned in months? Found the answer off screen." Would have been nice seeing her actually working this out.
And, well I can see the point of AJ wanting to move off the farm to prove a point and, just to prove to herself Twi means that much to her but.. still doesn't feel right.... And if they are just going to move in together... why waste money on a new place when they have one that works perfectly well? Other then needing to build some kind of door or wall or something to keep the bedroom private. And preferably sound proof.
I have no idea how that would work, other then.. It's Twilight, of course it would.
Okay, yeah moving issue was very well set up, and, both sides, everything about it was great... except the conclusion it just... "Oh here's the answer, problem solved." And, not actually seeing them work it out felt.. like a huge let down after how well it was set up and pulled off. I mean it makes some sense but, just not seeing AJ coming to this decision just 'poof' there it is.. after the story was so good about not having the solution just pop into existence after they talked... granted it's not AS bad since, there was enough time you know she really was working at it just, would have been nice to SEE that thought process. And the actual solution... meh. instead of one of us moving in with the other, let's spend a shit ton of bits to get another place. Then again that's my practical penny-pinching side talking.
Okay, time for the next chapter... wait.. what caught up!
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
Well only have to wait for one chapter. And need to head to work anyway, will type up overall thoughts on the story, sans final chapter, after work...
4996338
5000432 Yes, Spike is the ringbearer. He could've filled the position, but for Twilight that would've meant having to find somebody to fill that role, and the last thing she needs is to be shuffling everyone around.
4999090 I'd considered that, but with the more "realistic" bent the story took, I figured that Twilight would realize the impracticality of that. And there's another reason, which will become evident in the last chapter.
5000461 There's still one more chapter.
5001389
Yeah, and that's too little xD
I have a thing with stories where I don't want them to ever end. I want to read until the characters end, not the story <.< xD
I love this story, thank you for updating! I look forward to the probable last chapter!
You know, I feel kind of bad that I hadn't seen this story earlier, because I would have liked to seen this as it developed more; considering how far you are into it, and so close to finishing it, there's not much of an impact left to make on it, whether through specific praise of helping point out some errors that could use a good spit-shine.
Speaking of which, I didn't notice any typos, although there is this:
Which should probably be something more like this:
But that's about it, honestly. Sad that I got into this story so late, but I'm still glad I did.
asymmetrical
Spike's poster:
derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/2/23/559974__solo_rarity_solo+female_suggestive_bedroom+eyes_bed_bedroom_pose_nightgown_artist-colon-willisninety-dash-six.jpeg
5003255
Erm, yes.
Colorful.
I feel like that AJ and Twilight reached their decision about living arrangements from the wrong direction. Which then brings to mind something that seemed decidedly lacking in all the conversations about this subject. Or, two things really. One is privacy, the other is suitability for raising a family.
To be honest, on the whole, from a totally practical standpoint, expanding the farm would have been the best choice. Yes, it would have resulted in work and expenditure on the part of the Apples, but so would buying a new home, which I would think would be more costly. Such an arrangement would provide them with the space needed to grow on their own, and allow for the possibility of children. And let's face it, AJ is almost certainly going to want kids, and I can't think that Twilight would not want children herself at some point. Not right away, of course, but sometime. However, there is the fact that they would essentially still be living in AJ's family's house, and that would compromise the kind of privacy a newlywed couple would want to have. Yes, that includes the physical aspect of their relationship, but it's more than that. For a newlywed couple, life is now about them. And The Apple household is likely very community based. Everyone in it popping in on the rest when needed. That wouldn't fly for Applejack and Twilight now. Granted, there is Spike, but in his case, that is simply part of the Twilight package, so to speak. You marry twilight, get a dragon along with her. He is more than just a brother, and he doesn't have additional family who can care for him, like Applebloom. It does help that Spike is probably more likely to leave them to themselves as well.
However, the library is even worse, as being a public building with what appears to be a studio apartment with a bathroom, and probably a kitchen somewhere, would have it's own issues, AND it's far too small to really start a family in.
This would ultimately lead towards them having their own home being the only viable solution, as well as being something they both would work towards, and put into as something that is theirs, so in the end it works out. It just feels weird none of this was much addressed.
Other than that though, good chapter. I rather liked the Lyra part. :D Good choice from Twilight, and it's good to see her friends are all on board with it.
And it's almost over! I am filled with both anticipation and despair!
Just to nitpick, that's basically what the arrangement is: move into the library and live there while they look for their own house. The library is just a temporary setup.
hey, you all need to come, i have something important to announce. it affects all of you greatly.
sure
I'm here
go ahead
i'm listenening
uhm... go ahead
so, what i wanted to say
dramatic pause
none of you will be best mare
5003367
I could see why Twi couldn't sleep!
Though a somewhat silly idea came to me earlier. They should transplant Golden Oaks to SAA!
I'm actually a bit mournful that this is nearing its' end. I'm going to miss the sensible approach to long term shipping, no clue how I'll fill the gap.
Or I could reread this a dozen times a month for another year or so, that'd work.
As this story draws to a close, it makes me wonder how close their wedding will be to mine coming up soon.
If the next chapter comes out on October 4th, it'll just be freaky.
5009105 That was my idea too. JT went and shot it down.
Though looking back, his main reason was it wouldn't be fair to all the other ponies the used the library. And that it was a major public building that many ponies used and so couldn't just be moved to make Twi feel better.
And yet, the fact that is WASN'T well used, and that hardly anypony ever goes in, and that there is barely any business going on with it... is the main reason he used to justify Spike taking over.....
5012750
Well, maybe business will pick up once Twi moves out and Spike turns his swag on.
5013293 Still a stupid, stupid idea to put him in charge. Ad even worse for him to live on his own.
5013405
I dunno, sounds like he's done a perfectly competent job so far.
5013643 Becuase the story chooses not to let it be so. rather then actaully looking at the shear lunacy of placing a little id in charge of something like this.
And it makes zero sense past that, since every time we DO see him acting that way, there is always Twilight somewhere telling him what to do anyway.
5012750
5013293
Actually, I think my main reason was more along the lines of "uprooting and moving the tree is too extreme of a solution for an otherwise low key story". I decided against it because throughout the story the vast majority of solutions to their issues have been mundane, and solving the issue with something that drastic wouldn't fit the story. Somebody else in the thread brought up the "public use" aspect of it. As for Spike, my take on it is that so few ponies actually use the library as a library that having him run it really didn't add much responsibility anyway. Seriously, in the entire show, I think the library is actually used as a library like maybe once.
You're right that I probably should've developed Spike growing into the role a bit more.
5014248 Low traffic or not, he is still a little kid. You don't put kids in charge of things like that. And the story did nothing to help prove otherwise, when every time it came up, he either had no idea what he was doing. Or still just following lists Twilight made him. A paid assistant to the library, sure that could work. In charge of everything? No just, you don't put a twelve year old in charge of something like that, even if it is relatively low traffic. Which even the story doesn't support that idea given how often he was talking about going out to collect overdue books, or how many ponies had books checked out.
That, is one of the few gripes I do have with the story is how it handles Spike. Not just the taking over thing, but, how they don't bat an eye to him moving out and living on his own. he is a kid, twelve-ish or so. early teens at most, and that's stretching it. And yes he can be mature and intelligent for his age but, hardly all the time. And yet, nopony ever brings this up and no point does anyone ever think he shouldn't because of this. The only reasons anypony gives for him not moving out on his ow, is just that they don't want to feel like they are pushing him away. And his own concerns are more about being on his own after living with Twi for so long, then, you know... being a kid.
His characterization was great, just, the way the story seemed to total ignore the fact that he is a young kid, not an adult. Treat him just like one, while he continued to act like a kid a lot of the time, just like in the show.
Also, still don't see it as being that drastic given how overall easy something like that would be for Twi to do. Wrap the tree in TK, pop it up, trot over to SAA with it hovering over her and plop it in a hole AJ had dug for it.
5014352 Yeah, I had kinda hoped to have a subplot about him maturing a bit, but he kinda got shoved to the side. Oh well, hindsight is always 20/20 I guess.
5015588 Yeah really needed more to it. Like I said, starting out as just an official librarian assistant then taking on more and more responsibility over time, that might have worked. Just, jumping right into "Hey you know how to put books away and dust. congrats you are in charge of the whole library now." Way to quick.
Okay since I'm typing now, might as well get that overall impression done.
Well.... simply amazing! Not flawless, not perfect but.. the closest I've ever seen in a romance focused fic. Mostly because the issues the story does have, are not related to the romance itself. That.. IS handled damn near perfectly. No stupidity, no contrivances to generate false drama, none of the shit the makes most romance stories so aggravating, annoying, and unlikable. When they have issues, they are ones you can see both sides have a point with. They aren't just being bitchy or fighting for the sake of drama, but because they both have real issues, and they don't go overboard. yes they might fight, but then they will walk away, spend time thinking it over, calm down and work things out. Just, the shear lack of idiocy of any kind. (barring Twi's initial antics, which were SO over the top they loop around from embarrassing and annoying, to just outright hilarious.) Is by far the best part about the whole romance story. Bravo
But not the best part of the story as a whole. That is your characters. Even when the story wasn't really holding my interest (which only happened twice, right at the start took a few chapter to get into it, then again after the Time Skip, more on that later) I wanted to keep going just to see the character interacting, regardless of about what. Not only were your Mane 6 almsot perfectly in keeping with the show and how they feel there. But the background ponies you gave personalities too were also amazing. And while I still think the whole Twi taking a job and leaving Spike in charge of the library bit was very poorly executed, I cannot complain to much about that first part of that, because it kept Lyra and Bon-Bon in the story. Bon-Bon only being beaten out for best pony this story by Twilgiht's dad.
That said, were some issues. First with the characters, while on the whole they were.. just pure amazing and SO well done. Three of them had some problems. I already went over Spike. The issue there wasn't his characterization, but the fact nopony ever realized, he's a freaking kid and acting like him doing stuff kids should not be doing, was perfectly normal. Next Fluttershy. Again with this, it wasn't so much her characterization as, what she was doing. The whole jealousy sub plot was really forced feeling. It DID end on a high note, but the start was, not good and made little sense. And on the whole, it just felt like the story was trying to give her some reason to be part of the story, just for the sake of having her be part of the story. not because it was where she naturally fit in. Especially since she just kind of, slipped out of it after awhile. And the one point where it was a case of their characterization that was the issue. Granny Smith. Did not like.. at all. You pushed the "old senile lady" shtick to far. While, it might fit for season 1 Granny, not for a post Season 1 Granny. Yeah she's old and a bit batty, but not to the extent you pushed her.
The other big issue is the Time Skip. It was... really badly handled. It was clearly done just for the sake of "okay it's been long enough, they are ready to get married now" Just to get the time into the relationship, without really working out all the things that the Time Skip missed, or didn't do right. Mostly the fact that... nothing changed. If it wasn't for a whole chapter of everypony going "Wow Twi and AJ have been together a whole year now!" it would be impossible to tell a time skip even happened. Worse a lot of the stuff between the time skip and the actual start of the marriage arc.. was all stuff that felt really really odd to have taking a whole year to happen. Moving to the more then a peck on the cheek or lips kiss stage of the relationship for one. Then, Twi didn't have dinner with the Apple Family even after over a year of going out with AJ? And a few other minor things. While I get the reason for the time skip, it was very poorly handled, and likely would have been better to do a series of smaller time skips, each dealing with on of the issue brought about after the main time skip. As it is, the Time skip just, ruined the whole flow of the story for a while. Ruined the pacing, the build up just, took me out of the story itself til it started picking back up.... MOMENTUM that's the word, it knocked out the stories momentum and it took awhile to build that back up.
And another issue, that.. is actually more a case of it only being an issue because of how good the story is. Sex. Yes I do understand your points and why you kept it out of the story and... they do make sense. This isn't like the Spike thing where.. I'm just going to keep on it whenever it's brought up because I think it's just a plain badly done idea. This.. I do get why you did it this way and, fair enough, just pointing out how I think it effected the story.
That the story was so good, so detailed, spent so much time on all the little things, took it's time. that it explored so much of the relationship.. is one of the best things about it. Yet, that level of detail, makes the near total absence of any talk about the physical side of the relationship all that more jarring for it's absence. not saying details, or actually doing a sex scene but, it needed some earlier acknowledgement about the fact that at least existed. We got like two bits near the end that kid of skirted the edge of it but, it was more to little to late to really prevent the issue. Though did help a bit. But, when every other aspect of it has been explored so well, not touching on that part was very very noticeable and distracting by not being there at all.
But those are.. yeah minor points in the overall grandness of the story. It really is the best done ship-fic ever.. simply by not being a ship-fic. taking all the tropes and cliches and idiocy those usually need.. and saying Fuck that, no Idiot balls allowed. Just, so damn good. And hope you enjoyed the commentary. Was a blast writing it.
5015848 It's always fun to see people responding to it. I definitely understand the criticisms, even if I don't necessarily agree with some of it. Fun fact: I was probably about ten chapters into the story before I realized that I had to do something with Spike, which is probably why his whole subplot is so rushed.
But yeah, it was really interesting reading your response, and knowing your general feelings about inter-mane six shipfics, I'll take this as a win. I'm fully aware that the story isn't perfect (I'm still kicking myself for not handling the timeskip differently), but that's how you learn.
Its almost over? no! I understand why, but the story feels like it is missing something besides the wedding... oh well, im glad we are getting closure at least
5000966
not neccesarily, just that it is in between them, if it takes 10 minutes to get from one to the other, then the middle of town is a five minute walk/trot from both the library and the farm
5036227 It's an issue of wording. IOt could have meant the point in town midway between the farm and the library. But, that also seems odd as from what we've seen of the area, the midpoint should be outside or near the edge of town. Since SAA is a little was outside of town itself. But regardless, it's not that bad, but just an issue of the story not being specif.
5036345
unless applejack suddenly moved SAA inside town on a whim
also JT, if you are going to do anything else with this story (sequel/spinoff/etc.) I would suggest a story where the applejack and/or twilight start a garden/ a farm and maybe applejack brings Winona with her and other related things
just a suggestion
So lyra planning a bachlorette party, *rubs hooves together in anticipation*
Commence read.
Things are getting planned out.
Now to see how Lyra does with her new duties.
Then a wedding.
Just finished reading the chapter... and barely realized how LONG this story is
I'm sometimes intimidated with fics longer than 200k, but if it's well written, I look past the length
Looking forward to the final chapter, I'm giving this a fave and a like
I'm disappointed to hear the story is wrapping up, but I appreciate all the work you've put into it! This is a great story, and it's a pairing I hadn't really considered before/outside of this story, but the characterization is so good. And the conflicts are actually resolved in rational ways, no one flies of the handle to make problems bigger than they should be. It's great
I'm surprised Twilight didn't pick Spike to be her "mare" of honor, considering how long they've been together. Lyra has been a big help though, and it'll be fun to see how to handles the bachelorette party!
I last looked at this story several months ago, and I just now realized I didn't leave a comment, even though I try to leave a comment on every story I read. Well, whenever I discuss pacing with people on this site, I always say that I've read hundreds of stories that were paced way too fast, but only two that were too slow.
This is one of them (the other being Address Unknown[/url)]. I read to chapter 14, that's 115k words, and I honestly don't remember a thing that happened. Twilight and AJ got into a relationship. Twilight got a new job. Was there any conflict thus far? All I could remember thinking is that maybe in the next chapter they'd have some adversity to overcome, to make their bond stronger by tribulation. I just wanted to have some mystery to look forward to seeing solved, some trial that I could wonder about how the characters could overcome. I don't know, maybe it was in the next chapter and I just quit too early.
Not that it's a bad story. I wouldn't dream of giving it a downvote despite its flaw. I don't know; I'm not going anywhere with this. I'm just trying to explain how I felt.
This story is the only reason I check in on FIMfiction to be honest. I'm sad that it will be ending but I would be lying if I said i wasn't looking forward to how this story concludes. This is an extremely well written piece of work and I'm able to really get into it and just sit down and read it with out getting bored or burnt out. I've loved it since day one (helped proof read a few chapters long ago) and I can recall this story very well because of how detailed it is and how rich it is. I'm hoping for a great (and hopefully long) last chapter and hopefully a great, happy conclusion. Amazing work and I hope to see some of your future works! Thank you for writing this and great job!
Not picking Spike for best mare. Not picking Celestia for best mare. Celestia's a busy pony, sure, and this version of Twilight might not feel like she has that kind relationship with her, but how could you not pick Spike? The hilarity of him being in charge of Twilights bachelorette party alone... The unadulterated awk, the ridiculous misinterpretations... It's a crime against comedy. Ah well. One more chapter to go. Not sure how I feel about that.
Until Lyra mentioned the bachelorette party, I figured the choice would be obvious. Luna! I can easily see her being willing to stand up for one of the mares who freed her from Nightmare Moon. I can't see her being unwilling, actually. And when you get right down to the root of it all, she played the first and arguably most important step in the pair getting together. After all, Twi only met Applejack when she went to Ponyville, which only happened because of Nightmare Moon. Sure, you could say it was done under Celestia's orders, but I figure she'd be too busy officiating the wedding to be the Mare of Honor. And don't tell me she's too busy for that. She made time to visit Ponyville to attend--merely attend--a donkey's wedding. She'd be there for this wedding, come Tartarus or high water!
Then, as I said, I was reminded of the bachelorette party, and I immediately realized that neither of the princesses would be well-suited to the task. Luna's too out of touch with the modern age, and Celestia would just be too awkward. As a hero/mentor/potentially even second-mother figure, it would almost certainly end up too awkward for at least one of them. It might also end up destroying some of Twi's image of the "perfect Princess Celestia."
Either one of them could theoretically hand that planning off to Pinkie, but that might make things worse for Celestia, and/or Twilight's image of her. And Luna would be far to enthusiastic and eager about the planning to hand it off willingly. Unless such things only came into existence after she was banished. Then she might be willing to seek help. Even then, her old-fashioned behaviors would make the party extremely awkward.
For instance:
"WHY IS THIS STALLION WAVING HIS PLOT IN OUR FACE! CEASE AND DESIST AT ONCE, BEFORE THOU ART ARRESTED FOR SUGGESTING LEWD ACTS WITH THY PRINCESS, FOOLISH COMMONER!"
So, ultimately, yeah, Lyra is probably the best choice.
Agreed hooves aren't good at tying things